The protests in Iran keep growing and the regime appears increasingly unable to quell them. MEF Chief Strategist Jim Hanson spoke to FOX News about the likelihood of a US intervention or a successful move by the Iranian people to topple the regime.
Iran is on the verge of collapse.
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) January 10, 2026
President Trump has publicly supported the protesters.
Can he broker a deal for a referendum on removing the regime, or will they have to fight for it? pic.twitter.com/PEln0lcpCr
Transcript:
FOX: Chief Strategist for the Middle East Forum Jim Hanson. When I interviewed the President yesterday and we discussed Iran specifically and the protests that were going on, he made it clear again, he’s made it very clear before. He went a little deeper, little further in saying if the Iranian regime cracks down on the protesters and starts killing them en masse that he will involve the United States and he will stop it. Your thoughts.
HANSON: I think what he did is very similar to what Ronald Reagan did when in reading the names of the prisoners in the Gulag. He’s telling the people of Iran “We see you. We see your cause and we believe in it”. Now if he carries through with that, I think it will something more along the lines of turning their nuclear program into more radioactive rubble as opposed to an active decapitation strike or anything like that.
This needs to be done by the Iranian people and they seem to be doing a pretty good job of it. So there have been reports that the Kurdish province has basically gone 100%, the parties unified against the regime and there’s a general strike going on.
So, there are many protesters who’ve been killed. We’ve heard from inside the country that up to 200 have been killed. But at this point I think the Iranian people have the path to toppling the regime and getting a referendum then on what kind of government they want next.
